THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 23, 1995 TAG: 9505230244
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
The hole in the cranial bone behind Tammie L. Wainwright's left ear has become hidden from view as her auburn hair, cleanshaven four months ago, grows out.
Her hair - thicker now and for the first time in her life slightly curly - also hides two ridges that run, back to front, across the top of her head.
Facial cream helps conceal another gouge in her forehead, above her right eye.
These are some of the reminders of Jan. 13, when a man brandishing an ax crept up behind her as she crossed the parking lot of the Towne Point Square shopping center. She was headed toward the Food Lion to buy cat food, but she never made it.
``The last thing that I remember, I was getting out of my truck,'' Wainwright, 34, said last week, recalling what she could about her personal horror-movie nightmare. ``Then I remember waking up in the hospital, and I didn't even know why I was there. It was family and friends who told me what happened.''
What they said sounded almost too brutal to believe.
First, the man, later identified by police as Michael Coker of the 3800 block of Greenleaf Trail, knocked her to the ground with a blow from behind. Then he stood over her and hit her four more times with the sharp edge of the ax. Afterward, police said, the man got on his bicycle and rode back to where he was living nearby with a relative.
All of this took place in view of horrified onlookers, one of whom may have saved Wainwight's life by blowing his car horn and driving slowly toward the assailant as he stood over Wainwright.
``If it wasn't for (the motorist), there is no telling what he would have done to me,'' said Wainwright, the mother of two boys. ``He probably would have just kept on hitting me.''
Since the attack, Wainwright often forgets events from the recent past, she said, and sometimes she has difficulty following simple conversations. That has made her shy away from places where she might run into acquaintances.
``I used to be able to talk to anybody,'' Wainwright said. ``But I can't do that anymore. I'm afraid I might say something stupid.''
Why Wainwright was attacked may be answered today in Portsmouth Circuit Court. That's when Coker, a 37-year-old ex-convict, goes on trial for the assault. He is charged with malicious wounding and aggravated malicious wounding.
Wainwright said police told her that Coker was on medication and wanted to be put in jail.
``I think he should be put away where he could never, ever hurt anyone else,'' Wainwright said.
Coker was arrested at his residence the day of the attack. Since then, he has been held at the Portsmouth City Jail.
The impending courtroom proceedings weigh heavily on Wainwright's mind.
``I guess it is, more or less, tearing my nerves up,'' she said. ``I stay depressed a lot. I still can't believe it happened.''
The frightening anticipation of seeing her alleged assailant in court is just another part of the price that Wainwright, like some other survivors of violent crime, must pay. But Wainwright has overcome the physical threat.
She came close to dying in January, when surgeons at Portsmouth's Maryview Medical Center picked bone fragments out of her brain. Her life-threatening injuries kept her in intensive care for four days.
After eight days in the hospital, Wainwright was released and returned to her home in Portsmouth's Churchland section. With help from family and friends, she is slowly recovering.
Wainwright said her hearing and sight also have been impaired by the assault. Her ears ring and she sees spots occasionally during dizzy spells, she said.
The only positive thing Wainwright can draw from the experience is that it has made her wary when she's alone. She hopes that's a lesson other women can learn from her story.
``I look over my shoulder a lot more now, and maybe that is good,'' she said. ``All women need to be careful. There are a lot of crazy people out there.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN/Staff
Tammie Wainwright, with one of her three cats, says she doesn't
remember the attack. ``It was family and friends who told me what
happened,'' she says.
Hit five times with an ax on Jan. 13 - as she went to buy cat food -
Tammie Wainwright had surgery and was in intensive care for four
days.
KEYWORDS: ASSAULT INJURIES ARREST by CNB